Lions come from behind to beat Stockport

For the seventh time this season, Stockport let a half-time lead slip as Leicester Lions came from behind to win 47-10 in National League 2 North at Headlands Road.

A solid first-half display saw Stockport deservedly lead 10-0 at the break thanks to a penalty from Ashley-Platt Hughes and a converted try by Simon Green.

Leicester Lions then came out a completely different side after the restart and scored 47 unanswered points as the hosts unfortunately capitulated.

Tries from Angus Hopwell and Oliver Taylor gave Leicester the lead nine minutes into the second half before Steven Cross added a third score just before the hour.

In the final quarter of the match, Robert Young’s try pretty much saw the Lions home but a penalty try and touchdowns from David Williams and Benjamin Brownline rubbed salt into the Stockport wounds and rounded off a commanding second half performance.

Stockport coach Matthew Bebbington said: “I said to the boys at half-time that we didn’t need to change anything. We tore them apart at times.

“But the first five minutes of the second half set the tone. We had two kick-offs that didn’t go 10 and we gifted them territory without them really doing anything.

“When we did get the ball, skill levels dropped. It was a combination of a few little things, but when you put them together it adds up to five or seven points.

“There is a core of players which review how they play and you can see that because they are improving. You can also see a few players that don’t review anything and therefore there are repeated mistakes. That needs to change throughout the club next season.

“The lads now need to go again against Ampthill next weekend who will be going for the league and we will give it a good go.”

Stockport went into the game determined to redeem themselves from their 55-0 defeat against Leicester earlier in the season and they were also looking for back to back home wins.

Port had beaten Otley in their last game on home soil and since their relegation back to National Three was confirmed, they had picked up 10 points from their last six games.

But despite another very organised and disciplined first half performance, it was the same old story for Port as they once again failed to hold on to a half-time advantage.

Port dominated possession in the first period and were in control of the match as they stretched Leicester out across the park.

Centre Mike Kaciubskyji along with winger Myles Hall made good line breaks in the first10 minutes of the match and it was Hall’s quick thinking which allowed Port to open the scoring.

His quick tap penalty caught a number of Leicester players offside as they came back to tackle Hall and Platt-Hughes nudged over the resulting penalty after 24 minutes.

From the kick-off, Port scored the first try of the afternoon as quick ball to the right put them on the front foot inside the Leicester 22.

The ball then came out to Green who found space and produced a precise side-step to beat the Leicester defenders to touch down by the posts. Platt-Hughes added the extras and Stockport led 10-0 at half-time.

It seemed as though Stockport would steadily pull clear after the restart due to their first half display, but all their hard work was undone nine minutes into the second period.

From the Stockport kick-off, the ball went out on the full and after a couple of penalties were won by Leicester, they won a lineout and set up a rolling maul.

A couple of phases later, Hopewell came out the back of the ruck and threw a dummy pass to allow him to score. Fly-half Jonathan Boden added the conversion.

Leicester were clever and effective from the set-pieces and used their power up front to score their second try. Another catch and drive from the lineout saw Taylor barge his way over to give his side a 10-14 lead. Boden converted.

Stockport had lost all their rhythm from the first half and some dogged defending gifted Leicester try number three on 57 minutes.

Winger Devon Constant, who was excellent when the sides met in December, smashed his way past Stockport tackles before giving the ball to Boden who set up Cross to score. Boden made it three conversions from three.

Stockport struggled to threaten Leicester in the last quarter as they continued to dominate every single aspect of the game.

On 67 minutes, the visitors nearly scored again from a rolling maul and after being held up on the try line, Young dived over unopposed from the resulting 5-metre scrum. Boden again added the extras.

Leicester then scored three more times in the remaining seven minutes of the game as they were awarded a penalty try before Williams and Brownlie rounded off excellent dynamic moves to seal the deal for the Lions.

Stockport welcome title chasing Ampthill and District to Headlands Road for the final game of the season next Saturday.

Stockport: Fletcher; Barlow, Platt-Hughes, Kaciubskyji, Hall; J Edwards, Street;  Fuller (capt), Longmore, Gill; Roddy, Waddington; A Green, Marsland, S Green.
Replacements: C Anthony, Graham, Baldwin, J Anthony, Batterbury

Try: S Green
Con: Platt-Hughes
Pen: Platt-Hughes

Leicester Lions: Williams; Constant, Veebel, Cross, A Murdoch; Boden, Hopewell;  Spokes, Taylor, Murray; Knight, Tuckey; Latimer, Rudkin, Young.
Replacements: Buxton, Brownlie, J Murdoch, Nixon, Donachie

Tries: Hopewell, Taylor, Cross, Young, Penalty Try, Williams, Brownlie
Cons: Boden (6)